


The Strength in Weakness

by Litaluna



Category: Naruto
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Sleepy Cuddles, With some art!!, kakashi has problems and iruka is a good boyfriend, this is soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:55:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23291308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Litaluna/pseuds/Litaluna
Summary: Things change when you fall in love. Your world shifts and morphs in ways that can make you feel like your soaring in heaven one minute and spiraling into darkness the next. It was little things like having saury in your fridge and uniforms two sizes too big for you in your closet.It was also lying in bed, reaching a hand out to a spot that shouldn’t be empty and waking up feeling lost and confused when it is.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka
Comments: 11
Kudos: 208





	The Strength in Weakness

Things change when you fall in love. Your world shifts and morphs in ways that can make you feel like your soaring in heaven one minute and spiraling into darkness the next. It was little things like having saury in your fridge and uniforms two sizes too big for you in your closet. 

It was also lying in bed, reaching a hand out to a spot that shouldn’t be empty and waking up feeling lost and disoriented when it is. 

Iruka shifted and sat up. The space beside him was empty, the sheets pulled back. Iruka wondered how long Kakashi hadn’t been there. 

The room was dark with only the soft blue light from the moon filtering through the curtains in faded beams.

Iruka stood from the warmth of his bed, feeling around the dim room until he found his yukata. Other clothing articles were strewn across the room, bringing back a pleasant flash of memories from their late evening. They could never seem to help themselves when Kakashi came back from a mission, eager to make up for lost time. 

The yukata slipped over his bare skin and Iruka haphazardly secured it around his waist, grabbing a small throw blanket from the foot of his bed to help fend off the cold. His bare feet treaded across hardwood floors until he was in the living room. Across the room in the balcony sat a familiar figure, hunched over in the night light and so heartbreakingly alone. 

As Iruka crossed the distance, he made sure to flare his chakra just so and walk a little heavier than any trained shinobi would. Kakashi gave no indication that he perceived Iruka’s presence, but then again, any trained shinobi wouldn’t. 

Iruka slid the glass door open and stepped out into the brisk night air. It wasn’t as humid as it often was and the night carried a breeze that slipped easily past the thin barrier of Iruka’s yukata. He shivered and knelt down behind Kakashi.

Kakashi was gazing out over the roads below Iruka's apartment, wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants to combat the cold. The village was asleep in the late hour, with sparse lights and not a single person in sight. 

“Everything alright?” he asked, voice so gentle it could have been mistaken for the passing breeze. 

A moment passed in which neither of them spoke, just sat in each other's presence. 

“Nightmare,” was the hushed response that came from Kakashi. 

Iruka frowned, tangling his fingers together in his lap -- it was all he could do not to wrap his arms around Kakashi and kiss him until he forgot all about whatever images tortured him in his sleep. 

“Can I touch you?” Iruka asked, desperate for Kakashi to say yes, but would understand otherwise. 

Kakashi seemed to hesitate, then nodded. 

An inaudible sigh escaped Iruka. His arms gently wrapped around Kakashi from behind and his lips pressed softly against the back of his neck--once, twice--then settled in the crook of his neck. He pulled back and tugged the throw blanket from around his shoulder's to place it over Kakashi's bare ones. “I’ll be inside when you're ready to come back to bed. Take your time,” he said against the skin of Kakashi's neck and pressed one more kiss there. 

Kakashi brought a hand up to settle over Iruka’s, squeezing it reassuringly before it slid from his chest. 

Iruka left the door cracked when he went inside. 

It was only two hours past midnight. Iruka sighed tiredly and made for his room. He left the bedroom door open and settled on the bed. As he did so, a shadow stretched across the room from the doorway. Kakashi stood there, looking vulnerable and fragile -- two words nobody would ever use to describe the infamous Copy Nin, but Iruka knew better.

Iruka reached a hand out, and only then did Kakashi traverse the short distance to their bed. His fingers tangled with Iruka’s who pulled him to lie down until Iruka's lips pressed against his forehead, nose tickled by unruly silver strands.

“I’m sorry,” Kakashi said into the quietness of their room. 

Iruka combed a hand through his hair. “For what?”

“For always doing this. Letting my nightmares stir me like a child.”

“That’s nothing to apologize for.” 

“You have work in four hours.” 

“I can manage with a lot less than that.”

“Still,” Kakashi said, sounding exasperated now. “It’s _weak_.”

“Then be weak. You don’t have to be strong all the time. Not with me.” 

Women and men alike wanted Kakashi’s time; wanted his gaze to land on them for even just a second. But they wanted the novelty. They wanted the Copy Nin -- indomitable, invulnerable. But he’s Kakashi Hatake before he is the Copy Nin, and he’s human before he is invincible. 

Iruka could hear Kakashi’s breath hitch and he pretended not to notice the way his arms tightened around him. Iruka pressed a chaste kiss to his forehead. “Go to sleep,” he said. 

Kakashi did not speak as Iruka continued to comb his fingers through the hairs at the base of his head. The contact was a constant reminder, _I am here_.

Iruka's own eyes grew heavy, and he allowed one deep thought to surface to his lips before he succumbed to sleep. 

“You don't have to be strong with me. I can chase off your nightmares.”

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to write some fluff for these two cause there really isn't enough imo. 
> 
> **updated bc I added the art I made for this a while ago. sweats nervously 
> 
> [Follow me on tumblr!! (link)](https://litaluna.tumblr.com/)  
> 


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